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Monday, November 30, 2015

Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 599, more Classical Allusion Q and A

30 November 2015, Writing Ideas
- New Novel, part 599, more Classical Allusion Q and A

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher
has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you
informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy
them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in
installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in
addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel
was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and
tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this
blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll
keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production
schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.

3. Ground your readers in the
writing.

4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

5. Immerse yourself in the world of
your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:

1. The initial scene (the
beginning)

2. The rising action

3. The climax

4. The falling action

5. The dénouement

The theme statement
of my 26th novel, working title, Shape, is
this: Mrs. Lyons captures a shape-shifting girl in her pantry
and rehabilitates her.

Here is the cover proposal for Escape
from Freedom. Escape is my 25th novel.

Cover
Proposal

The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I'm on my first editing run-through of Shape.

I'm
an advocate of using the/a scene input/output method to drive the rising
action--in fact, to write any novel.

Scene development:

1. Scene input (easy)

2. Scene output (a little
harder)

3. Scene setting (basic stuff)

4. Creativity (creative
elements of the scene)

5. Tension (development of
creative elements to build excitement)

6. Release (climax of creative
elements)

I can immediately discern three ways
to invoke creativity:

1. Historical extrapolation

2. Technological extrapolation

3. Intellectual
extrapolation

Creativity is like
an extrapolation of what has been. It is a reflection of something
new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the
intellect). Creativity requires consuming, thinking, and producing.

One of my blog readers posed these
questions. I'll use the next few weeks to answer them.

13. Tone - how tone is created
through diction, rhythm, sentence construction, sound effects, images created
by similes, syntax/re-arrangement of words in sentence, the inflections of the
silent or spoken voice, etc.

14. Mannerism suggested by
speech

15. Style

16. Distinct manner of writing
or speaking you employ, and why (like Pinter's style includes gaps, silences,
non-sequitors, and fragments while Chekhov's includes 'apparent'
inconclusiveness).

Moving on to 12. 12.
Field of reference or allusion

Here is a dictionary definition of allusion:

Allusion an expression designed
to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or
passing reference.

Here is definition of allusion I
like even better:

Allusion, in literature, an implied or indirect reference to a
person, event, or thing or to a part of another text

And, with that we have the purpose
for field of reference and allusion—they immerse the reader into a historical
world.They immerse the reader into a
frame of reference that is different than the present.They immerse the reader into a place, event,
or time such that those become real within the context of the writing.

All good writing is filled with
field of reference and allusions.The
author himself may not fully comprehend how much allusion and reference plays
in his own writing.The reason is that
all creativity in writing is tied to the past—to history.No one can write about love without some tie
to the loves of the past.No one can
write about human suffering or human joy without some tie to past human
suffering or joy.As some wag wrote, in
the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.What is joy without comparison, and what is suffering
without comparison?Additionally, what
is love without comparison?

Writers don’t write (or shouldn’t
write) the trivial.The theme and plot
of all writing is the entertaining.Generally, the status quo is not entertaining.An author only understands the creative and
entertainment from knowledge of literature.How can I know what is entertaining without some comparison to past
entertainment.As long as an author
understands that fiction writing is about entertainment, the purpose for
allusions and reference should become clear.

As I wrote, all creativity in
writing is based on the past and usually past literature.Someone made the observation that all themes
had been used and that artists simply reused those classical themes.I don’t necessarily agree.I believe I have developed themes that have
not been used before in literature.Most
of the time, an author can point to another novel that is in some ways similar
to his.I have written novels that are
singular—there are no other novels similar to them.This doesn’t mean these novels are not tied
by allusion or reference to the past—it simply means the themes and ideas are
newly extrapolated from the past.Plus,
I seek to infuse as much reference and allusion as possible in my writing.

The simple point is this—all writing
must allude to the past and all writing must reference past human ideas and
themes.It behooves the author to
accentuate and focus his writing with those ideas and themes—therefore reference
and allusion.

About Me

L. D. Alford is a novelist whose writing explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know. His writing distinctively develops the connections between present events and history—he combines them with threads of reality that bring the past alive. L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he is widely traveled and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Dayton, and is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and the USAF Test Pilot School. L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality. He is the author of three historical fiction novels: Centurion, Aegypt, and The Second Mission, and three science fiction novels: The End of Honor, The Fox’s Honor, and A Season of Honor.